Plugg

Plugg is a subgenre of trap music that emerged in the mid-2010s via online distribution on the SoundCloud platform. It was popularized by melodic Southern hip hop artists, and is characterized by deep 808 basslines, sparkly melodies, and melodic vocals. Unlike mainstream trap, which is defined by bombastic production and rattling hi-hat drum patterns, plugg is said to be dreamy, laidback, atmospheric, spacey, airy, and minimal. The genre is also described as having an overall lush and jazzy atmosphere; ethereal, luscious multi-instrumental harmonies and melodies; sparse, disjointed, and relaxed drum programming with few hi-hats; and thick basslines. Instead of the hi-hats in mainstream trap, plugg beats mainly employ beat skips, crash cymbals, and punctuated accent snares on half-beats. As described by a critic, plugg is best intended to be heard alone, "experience[d] .. [in] the way it's intended: as a day-long trance in your isolated abode". Vocally, plugg ranges from instrumental beats without vocals, to songs with either rapping or mellow singing. Rapping flows used in plugg range from aggressive to relaxed and mellow.

Plugg is a subgenre of trap music that emerged in the mid-2010s via online distribution on the SoundCloud platform. It was popularized by melodic Southern hip hop artists, and is characterized by deep 808 basslines, sparkly melodies, and melodic vocals. Unlike mainstream trap, which is defined by bombastic production and rattling hi-hat drum patterns, plugg is said to be dreamy, laidback, atmospheric, spacey, airy, and minimal. The genre is also described as having an overall lush and jazzy atmosphere; ethereal, luscious multi-instrumental harmonies and melodies; sparse, disjointed, and relaxed drum programming with few hi-hats; and thick basslines. Instead of the hi-hats in mainstream trap, plugg beats mainly employ beat skips, crash cymbals, and punctuated accent snares on half-beats. As described by a critic, plugg is best intended to be heard alone, "experience[d] .. [in] the way it's intended: as a day-long trance in your isolated abode". Vocally, plugg ranges from instrumental beats without vocals, to songs with either rapping or mellow singing. Rapping flows used in plugg range from aggressive to relaxed and mellow. ==Etymology== The genre derives its name from the "Plug!" producer tag on SoundCloud used by the members of the BeatPluggz collective since 2013. MexikoDro of the Beatpluggz collective claimed that fellow collective member StoopidXool or someone else from Beatpluggz recorded the vocals for the tag. At first, the tag used the word "Plugs", but they later shortened it to "Plug". Both variants "plugg" and "plug" are used to describe the genre. Other names for the genre include descriptive terms such as "new wave" and "smooth jazz" (not to be confused with new wave and smooth jazz genres). ==Characteristics== Plugg music is typified by the production style of Beatpluggz, originated by MexikoDro. According to CashCache, "simple chords, hard-hitting 808s and repetitive, thoughtful, addictive melodies" typify plugg music. According to trap producer Popstar Benny, the foundation of plugg is "Zaytoven['s] 'street' Atlanta drums, and melodies, [which are] ... a little more 'internet' and little more "videogamey". ===808s and drumming=== Multiple sources pinpoint the foundation of plugg drumming to Zaytoven's percussion style and samples. Zaytoven's percussion style was influenced by West Coast hip hop of the late 1990s. Many drum samples used by Zaytoven were provided to him by his beatmaking mentor, JT the Bigga Figga, and have continued to be used by him ever since. Zaytoven's drum technique has been described as sparse, and swinging. The sparse style of production served the purpose of freeing up acoustic space for the rapper's presence. Zaytoven's beats are primarily centered around heavy 808 bass notes, and, as Zaytoven put it himself, Zaytoven credits the swinging feel of his typical rhythms to the MPC2000 hardware sampler, which he has used throughout his career. 808 bass notes used in plugg have been described variously as thick, hard, steady , bumping and deep. Zaytoven's drumming is inherently polyrhythmical. Second to the 808 bass notes is usually a clap falling on every 2nd and 4th pulse in a measure. Another rhythmic line is usually added by several sparse lines of hi-hats, which only mark every 8th note and otherwise come and go in dense, occasional clumps. The next percussive line is formed by occasional ornamental accented snares. Zaytoven also usually employs various additional percussive elements in his rhythms, such as occasional vocal "ahh" samples, bongos, shakers (the so-called "Zaytoven shaker"), and so on, and according to Zaytoven, many of the later beatmakers mainly tried to emulate his drumming by re-using his percussive drum sounds. The complete rhythm usually employs several minor variations throughout the song; and it might be turned on and off throughout the song, creating "beat cuts" or "beat skips". ==History== ===Early 2010s: Origins=== , whose beats heavily influenced the emergence of plugg music The origins of plugg music are traced to the gospel and soul-influenced production style of Zaytoven, and other southern rap influences, such as OutKast, as well as to a loosely related subgenre of hip-hop called Chicago bop, which is a euphoric, fast-paced subgenre of drill music. Plugg first emerged around 2013 as a cohesive production style of the collective called Beatpluggz including Atlanta-based producers MexikoDro and StoopidXool. Plugg was inspired by Zaytoven, Project Pat, Juicy J, Gucci Mane, the snap rap group D4L, and the Paper Mario Nintendo soundtrack. MexikoDro and his fellow Beatpluggz members gained viewership via the SoundCloud platform, where plugg picked up an underground following. Plugg has been described as "near-ambient and intoxicating", a strong departure from the popular styles of the day. From around 2014 on, rappers like Playboi Carti, Rich the Kid, Diego Money, Kodak Black, Lil Yachty, Famous Dex, Yung Bans, Thouxanbanfauni, D Savage, and Reese LaFlare brought mainstream attention to plugg for the first time by working with Beatpluggz and releasing tracks such as "Broke Boi" (by Playboi Carti), "Plug" (by Rich the Kid, Playboi Carti and Kodak Black), "Hella O's" (by Lil Yachty), "New Wave" (by Rich the Kid and Famous Dex), "Harrassin Me" (by Kodak Black and Humble Haitian), "Dresser" (by Yung Bans), and "No Cap" (by Yung Bans and Reese LaFlare). Around the same time, rapper Nebu Kiniza recorded his viral hit single "Gassed Up" (later certified platinum) over the same plugg beat that was used in "Plug!" by Rich the Kid. Among them, Carti was the first one to appreciate the production style of Beatpluggz, and also recorded other plugg records, such as "Money Counter", "Don't Tell Nobody", "Smash Pt.2" and "Chill Freestyle", around that time. Despite "Broke Boi" being his breakthrough hit, Playboi Carti never actually paid back to MexikoDro for these plugg beats, as MexikoDro later claimed in interviews. Whether or not Rich the Kid paid for the beat for his "Plug!" song, which was one of the biggest plugg hits of the day, also remains uncertain. During the first wave, plugg beats, mainly made by Beatpluggz, also helped to shape the careers of UnoTheActivist, Thouxanbanfauni, and Yung Gleesh. The first mainstream wave of plugg was mainly a fad and quickly faded away as the rappers (Famous Dex, Rich the Kid, Lil Yachty) moved on to work with other producers. Playboi Carti had a creative break-up with MexikoDro, which was described as "ugly", and moved on to work with Pi'erre Bourne, who wasn't making plugg. Despite the aforementioned developments, in the underground during that time, plugg maintained a consistent following and continued to evolve, mostly due to the online-centric nature of the subgenre. ===Hyperplugg=== By the end of 2021, the plugg sound was flourishing and developing further, with multiple artists starting to add more digicore influences into their sound, a genre which drew from plugg music; examples of this being Daesworld's "2003" and Jaydes' "Highschool". In 2022, the hyperplugg microgenre began trending on SoundCloud and TikTok, when producer-artist Myspacemark started adding influences of hyperpop into his plugg sound, to the point of claiming to have invented the "hyperplugg" subgenre. It was unclear whether the subgenre was intended as an ironic meme or not, but after videos on the microgenre amassed tens of thousands of views on TikTok, many fans of Myspacemark took the idea more seriously. ==Regional scenes== Apart from the United States, by the mid-2010s to the early 2020s, plugg took root in Europe, particularly in France and the post-Soviet countries, where local plugg scenes were formed thanks to skate videos, fashion trends and the growing popularity of hip-hop music. ===France=== Parisian rapper first learned about plugg after listening to "Broke Boi" by Playboi Carti and formed a crew of designers and artists, who developed the local aesthetic of mixing plugg sounds with their reverence for Japanese designer clothes. The crew of Serane, dubbed "#OneTruePath", was noted as somewhat similar to Yung Lean and his SadBoys crew from Sweden, who were also largely influenced by imported American hip-hop subgenres during their time. To Serane's surprise, Atlanta plugg producers were supportive of his crew's efforts. After he collaborated with various American plugg artists, including rappers ATL Smook, BeezyB, 10kdunkin, Tony Shhnow, and Dylvinci, and producers CashCache, MexikoDro, and StoopidXool themselves contacted him and offered to collaborate on music. At the same time, Serane met a great deal of criticism at home in France, where, in a musical environment dominated by aggressive UK drill, he was often dismissed as trash, mainly for his "off-beat" flow. Besides Serane, other French plugg artists include rappers Southlove, Kasper!, Prince K., Yuri Online (all belonging to #OneTruePath), 8Ruki, and Lil Sandal, and producers TTDafool, Voidd, Chenfol (also from #OneTruePath), and others Of them, Chenfol (also variably spelled Chenpol) is described as the originator of the plugg sound in France. ===Russia and post-Soviet countries=== , early plugg pioneer in Russia Plugg would be dubbed as "minimalistic trap" in Runet, a Russian-language internet community. Face is commonly cited as the first rapper from Russia to start rapping over plugg beats in 2016, with songs such as "Кот" ("Cat") (produced by MexikoDro), "Vans" (produced by MexikoDro), and the "Revenge EP" (2017). Boulevard Depo was another early proponent of plugg in Russia, with songs such as "Проснись и пеки" ("Wake and Bake") and "Rare First Basement" (both produced by FrozenGangBeatz in 2016), "Burnout", and "Snake In The Snacks" (both produced by NastyBoy Boo in 2018). Big Baby Tape was also among the first rappers from Russia to put plugg into the spotlight, with the release of his debut EP, "Hoodrich Tales", in 2018, which he described as having "the essence of plugg music". In Ukraine, plugg was pioneered by the 044 KLAN music collective, particularly by rappers 044 ROSE and 044 yakata. Rocket, another Russian rapper, further popularized plugg in Russia with his "Supreme Swings" EP in 2020. ==See also== Cloud rap – an earlier, similarly atmospheric and relaxed subgenre of rap. Internet rap – an online-based subgenre of hip-hop ==References==

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